image credit Clifton John Galasinao
Creating an Altar or Sacred Space
Creating and maintaining an altar can be a simple and effective way of shifting our focus from an outer world of doing to an inner world of being. An altar is any surface or area dedicated as sacred space that provides for a focus of spiritual intention. An altar doesn’t need to be fancy or ornate. Simplicity can actually help you to create focused intention.
Our intention for Soul Bridging is to create a place of rest, replenishment, delight, and discovery – in that way Soul Bridging itself could be considered an altar for Michelle and I. We carefully choose what contributes to it, in order that it holds the highest vibration possible. Through the energy of our intention we support connection, both for you internally through your personal work, but also through connection to wonderful and ordinary people doing soul work in the world.
Michelle and I want to share our personal altars with you in hopes that you will do the same. Let’s start a conversation about how we create sacred space in our everyday lives!
Michelle’s Altar
I have several altars in my home. Each of them hold sacred space that always reminds and calls me to remember who I am, and who I am called to be.
The altar in my creative workspace has a cloth from my Grandmother which represents all my ancestors. Placed on the cloth are two clay pieces; one, a woman representing the Divine Feminine and the other, a hand representing the Divine Masculine. Between them is a small basket that holds small gemstones that I use to offer prayers and intentions. I am committed to uniting these two energies within me.
Behind the cloth is a braid of sweet grass. Said to be the hair of Mother Earth, it is made of three braided strands representing love, kindness, and honesty, known by some as walking the Beauty Way. With the sweet grass is a sage stick. Sage medicine purifies and dispels negative energy. Quan Yin, the Goddess of Compassion, is to the left and she holds the door of compassion open always for me. On the right is a horse , a very important energy in my life – my journey with the horse invites me deeper into self discovery around true power, presence, friendship, and an indescribable love. Above my altar space I have placed my drum. It represents a renewed connection to rhythm and relationship that transports me in to greater connection to all that is.
My candles represent Spirit and serve as a reminder of my eternal connection to the light, as well as my commitment to continue to transform my darkness and bring the light to those places.
May you be inspired to create your own altar.
With love, depth, and beauty;
Michelle
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Therese’s Altar
My altar space is a very simple table in my workspace at home. A statue of Quan Yin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, is seated on a violet silk cloth with a candle behind her. Violet is the energy of bringing heaven to earth, and the candle is symbolic for bringing light into the world. Quan Yin carries the divine feminine (Sophia) energy of wisdom and loving kindness. I chose her to be the centerpiece of my alter to support me in being kind. I have a quick nature and this can be experienced by others as abruptness and impatience. Quan Yin’s presence serves as a reminder for me that I must always work through compassion and kindness to bring light into the world. Beneath the silk cloth and the alter are crystals that I sometimes use during meditation.
Next to the alter is my meditation space and burning bowl. During times of anxiety or stress, I will write my worries, fears, or unfulfilled hopes on a small piece of paper and place it in the bowl. When I am ready to let it go, I take the bowl outside and release them with fire.
We hope you will share your altar story. Sacred practices inspire others and your story may inspire someone else to make room for the sacred in their lives.
Love, light, and blessings;
Therese
Create Your Own Altar
A personal altar can be very easy to create. Choose a quiet space – a table, shelf, room, or even an area in nature will do. As you establish your altar space, it is important to set an intention that the space will be used to hold the energy of the divine. Light a candle, or burn incense to sanctify the energy of the space. As you select objects for your altar, choose meaningful items that represent, for you, your focused intention. They will serve as a regular reminder of what you are attempting to accent in your life. You may choose to cover your altar with a cloth, select a color or texture to the cloth that is symbolic or representative of intention. As you place the objects on your alter, focus your intention and infuse them with the power of your thoughts. Don’t be afraid to change your altar items over time. When new changes and challenges present, bring them to the altar for focused intention and inspiration.
Heidi Rose Robbins reads Wednesday's poem "Uncommonly Low" for Soul Bridging
When we begin to operate from a place of non-judgement, we open to unimagined options, alternatives, and possibilities. We begin to see previously unseen potentials as we access greater wisdom, intuition, and creativity.
Living your purpose isn't always smooth sailing, despite what so many blog posts and videos out there seem to promise. Living your purpose isn't as flowing, light, and fun as everyone says - at least not all the time. No, fun aside, living your purpose can be bloody hard at times. Sticky, roller coastery, exhausting. Why? Because it still means you'll need to live life, manage your thoughts, patterns, triggers, belief systems, the way you set up and run your business and relationships - just the same as when you're not living it.
When we begin to operate from a place of non-judgement we open to yet unimagined options, alternatives, and possibilities. As we access the wisdom of the Ajna (third eye) from which Intuition and creativity flow we begin to see previously unseen potentials. This week, begin to practice non-judgement in your thinking. You may need to let those you work and interact with know you are practicing a different method of decision-making. Allow yourself room to work through the process. Try using these steps:
Some of us are well aware of our pitfalls – our traps of thinking that trip us up over and over. Some of us have been working for years to try and rid ourselves of these traps. And yet, we keep getting caught in the same old, same old samskaras. So we commit to trying harder to rid ourselves of this darkness, believing that’s it through pushing ourselves that we will overcome.To be honest, I don’t think that works very well. Fortunately a wise teacher recently suggested a different approach.
This month the Sun is in Libra and the moon is in its opposite sign, Aries. We label it as the opposite sign because at the moment of the full moon the sun and moon sit exactly opposite one another in the sky. Libra is the sign of relationship, beauty, harmony, peace and equilibrium. Aries is all about independence, the self, action and fire. This full moon, in particular can feed the fires of anger if we cannot monitor our emotions in a healthy way. The energies are volatile and possibly explosive and destructive.